It is time to start thinking about going back to school.  Check out this great site to catch some good buys and to win prizes.!

This post is different from the rest of the posts.  I wanted to share with you some information about something just for you.  Mother’s Day is approaching.  I came across this great website that offers high fashion name brands  at up to 75% off.  Click on the link below or type it into your browser to check out the site.  Happy Mother’s Day and happy shopping!!!!

http://www.hautelook.com/invite/626219

It is that time again. Time for standardized testing. As you try to get in the last part of your curriculum, here are some ideas of what you might use to review for the standardized test.

1. Play Jeopardy
2. Use Senteo
3. Use Powerpoints
4. Find great podcasts
5. Use individual dry erase white boards
6. Do Practice Tests

Last, but not least, encourage your students to do their very best on the test.

Now is the time to start thinking about the next coming school year. Most teachers return to work in August. It is the perfect time to begin planning the information letter that you send home with the students explaining details about the class. I used to always wait until I went back to work to get started. Last year was the first year that I had my letter together before school started. It took a lot of stress off me with all of the other things at school that I had to do. Give it a try. You will be less stressful also. Good luck in your upcoming school year!

Teacher appreciation week has come and gone.  Hopefully, you got something to show how much you are appreciated.  However, this may not have happened.  You can always purchase something for yourself.   I discovered this site that has great items for math teachers.  Check it out:  zazzle.com/nnlady08*.

Now is a great time to stock up on items for school.  In this past Sunday’s newspaper, Office Max has a brown paper bag where you can put items that you choose (read the small print because some items are not given a discount) to get a 15% discount.  This may not have occurred in all newspapers, but hopefully it did where you live.  Another place to buy items are thrift stores.  My school has implemented reading every day for twenty minutes.  I get my classroom reading books from thrift stores.  I am very careful about the ones that I choose, but they are very affordable.  If you have any great ideas about how to save on supplies, please leave a comment.

Summer is here!!  My school ended last week.  As I look forward to the days of summer, I begin to wonder about next year.  Now is the time to reflect on what worked and what did not work.  This is the time to write your ideas down about how you want to start next school year off.  In my first week of school, I want to do more team building activities with the students.  They are also going to be given a basic skills pretest so that I can find out what they know and what they are lacking.  I can then work on those skills in small groups.  I am going to get substitute plans ready.  These will be based on basic skills and problem solving.  My goal is to be better prepared at the start of school than I was last school year. 

Now that the end is near, here are some suggestions for what you can do with your students. 

1.  Play Jeopardy.  It works really well with a LCD projector and smartboard.

2.  Play math equation race on the chalkboard or whiteboard.  This is where the students are grouped in fours and each one takes a turn at the equation.  The first team to get the most correct is the winner.

3.  Play Uno.  The class can have several games going on at once.

4.  Play Math War with multiplication and division facts.  I got my cards from Barnes and Nobles.  The students really enjoy this game.

5.  Play bingo with basic math facts.  I purchased a bingo game from a Parent Teacher Store.  Let one of the students call out the cards. 

I hope you try some of these suggestions and let me know how things turn out.

Have a happy summer!

Check out the teacher forum page.  It is a page for you to share your memorable moments in teaching.  Thanks for sharing.